The field of reconfigurable processors is currently undergoing a period of rapid advances. Reconfigurable processors are circuit arrangements containing an array of circuits such as processors, arithmetic logic units (ALU), memory, interfaces, and other logic, digital and/or analog circuits that can be configured to operate in a desired manner under programmed control. Thus, the same circuit can be configured and reconfigured to operate in several ways depending upon the manner in which the circuit configuration is programmed. One popular application for such circuitry is in the field of digital signal processing (DSP). In this field, for example, a reconfigurable processor might operate as a first type of modem in a first environment and a second type of modem in a different environment.
In conventional reconfigurable processors, a single fixed clock is used to control the timing of internal functions. That is, the signal processing data path fabric operates at one fixed internal clock frequency. This can lead to high power consumption for certain DSP applications. This is almost always undesirable, but is particularly bothersome in battery-powered devices whose battery life is dependent upon minimizing excess power consumption.